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Monday, January 9, 2012

Top 5 Best Video Game Comebacks of 2011

Originally posted at oldschoollane.tumblr.com on December 30, 2011

With 2011 coming to a close, we seem to have a lot of things from our childhoods making comebacks. Movies, TV shows, and celebrities have made huge headlines about their outstanding comebacks. Video games are no exception, but they don’t make as much of a deal about it. Well, that’s about to change; here at Old School Lane, we’ll be looking at our top 5 best video game comebacks of 2011.

1. Mortal Kombat

In the 90’s, when Street Fighter II revolutionized the fighting game genre, Midway Studios released a fighting game named Mortal Kombat that brought in crazy fatalities, blood, memorable characters, and an interesting story line. However, the jump to 3D changed everything and the series became weaker and weaker with an over saturation of characters no one cared about, complicated game play, and terrible fatalities that weren’t as violent and bloody as it used to be. (I’m looking at you, Mortal Kombat vs. DC). In 2009, Midway Studios filed for bankruptcy and shut down. The hopes of a good Mortal Kombat game seemed gone forever.

But in 2010, it was announced that a new Mortal Kombat game from NetherRealm Studios was coming out and it would include everything that we loved from the older series. 2D graphics, no filler characters, easy game play, and bloody fatalities. When it came out in April 19, everything that was promised to us was delivered and more.

2. Marvel vs. Capcom 3

In the last decade, Capcom brought back a lot of their older series for a new generation. Some of them were great, (Mega Man 9, Bionic Commando Rearmed 1 and 2, Street Fighter IV) and some were mediocre at best (Mega Man 10, Bionic Commando, Lost Planet 2). Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was the one of the best fighting games ever with over 55 characters to choose from, custom made fighting styles, and over-the-top fun. We awaited the day that Marvel vs. Capcom 3 would lighten our TV sets and in February 15, it did after over a decade of waiting.

With only 35 characters in the roster, brighter colors, unbalanced and slower game play, there were mixed reactions when it first came out. However, a updated version called Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 came out in November and it improved on it with more characters and faster game play. Great job, Capcom, now release a new Strider game.

3. Sonic Generations

Similar to Mortal Kombat, in the 90’s, the Sonic series was the one of the best series of all time. At a time when Mario was the king of platforms, Sonic came along with his speed and unique stages. The Sonic series was the main reason to buy a Sega Genesis, much like Halo was the main reason to buy an XBOX. However, when the series jumped to 3D, the series took a drop for the worse. Confusing storylines, an over saturation of annoying characters, slippery controls, unfamiliar game play and slower movement almost killed the series. However, last year, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 episode 1 and Sonic Colors changed all that and kept the series from dying out.

This year was the series’ 20th anniversary and Team Sonic had to pull off a really good game to maintain the recent success that they’ve had so far. Enter Sonic Generations. A game that mixes 2D and 3D game play and has the 90’s Sonic and the modern Sonic working together to stop Dr. Eggman from his plan for world domination. The game is a lot of fun and it’s great to see Sonic make a great comeback.

4. Rayman Origins

When video games jumped to 3D in the late 90’s, there were a plethora of really good 3D platformers such as Super Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro the Dragon. When Rayman was released, it was a really creative 2.5D platformer with tons of colors and a really good soundtrack. The series improved in the later games, but when the Wii came out, the Rabbids took over with their crappy mini games and Rayman was left in the corner. That is, until November 15th of this year hit and Rayman returned in Rayman Origins.

In this day and age, graphics are 3D and the colors range from murky brown to black. It’s so refreshing to see a video game with this much color and 2D hand drawn animation. It looks beautiful and the game play is fun and addicting with so much variety.

4. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land

Okay, so technically Kirby made his return in last year’s awesome game Kirby’s Epic Yarn, but it wasn’t the same game play that we knew from the previous games. We hadn’t seen the classic copying abilities in a Kirby game since Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and we’ve missed it. Originally, this game was supposed to come out in the GameCube, but after many delays and failures for it to be released, it would have to be until October 24th for the game to come out.

Similar to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, up to 4 people can play this game. Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, and a Waddle Dee can work together playing through the levels of Dream Land. However, for you hardcore gamers out there, this might be too easy for you and might perceive it as a kid’s game. But check it out with a couple of your buddies for a game night. You won’t be disappointed.

5. Rocksmith
Okay, this is a new game series. What does this have to do with having a comeback? Here me out. Remember when music simulator games were awesome? Remember the long hours of playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band with your friends at game parties? Yeah, those were the good old days. But unfortunately, the over saturation of those games being released year after year burned out the genre and it died out. That is, until Ubisoft brought out the idea of letting the player use a real guitar to play the game and actually learn how to play the songs. It sounded like a great idea.

On October 18, Rocksmith was released and it received really good reviews. This is what Guitar Hero and Rock Band should have been. Maybe the music simulation video game genre isn’t dead after all. We’ll just have to see.

That concludes my list of the best video game comebacks of 2011. Await some more fun posts here at Old School Lane. Catch you guys later.

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About Me

Old School Lane was created by two nerdy best friends Patricia and Kevin on December 21, 2011. They talk about classic to modern adapations of movies, TV shows, video games, and everything else in between. This blog may be small for now, but it will grow into something special. We hope you're there when that happens.